Big B feat Chali 2na - "Progress" (stream) (PopMatters Premiere)

by PopMatters Staff

His latest LP, Fool’s Gold, will release on July 9th via Suburban Noize. The title is important as it reflects Big B’s growing cynicism about the music industry, a common sentiment these days. “I’ve been making records for such a long time now and after a while you start to realize that the whole music industry is fake,” says Big B. “People get caught up in chasing this idea of success that just doesn’t exist. People who window shop never see the inside of a store unless they walk in. You could have the coolest looking store front ever, but when you open it up its still just a junk yard inside. That’s the way I see the music business. It sounds glamorous until you see it for what it really is, which is fool’s gold.”

That’s not a surprising reaction from an artist that takes a real blue collar approach to making a career out of music. Big B just keeps working hard, expanding his sound, not allowing genre classifications stand in the way of what he wants to do. Case in point is the new tune “Progress”, which is a real funky rap tune with rock ‘n’ roll energy. Big B says, “when we finished recording Fool’s Gold I had all these left over tracks that didn’t fit in anywhere on the album, but they were still great songs. I wanted let fans hear the tracks that didn’t make the cut, as a thank you for all their support over the years,” said Big B. “This album is just me growing up a little bit musically. I think I’ve evolved as an artist, and I know every album has been different, but I think people are starting to finally see it.”

It’s a great track that features Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 spreading a message of positivity and hope. Big B will be touring all summer long with the Dirty Heads and the Expendables.